According to Montreal city councillor Marvin Rotrand, municipal voters show far more interest in local issues—such as bike lanes and urban farming plans—than in selecting their representatives in local government. A recent proposal put forward by Rotrand would follow this logic, and seek to increase voter turnout by putting referendum[Read More…]
Opinion
Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.
Forgetting facts
Perhaps the most important factor in considering a university education is that it equips one with a set of facts and knowledge that would otherwise be hard to come by. Indeed, we enter class expecting to be bombarded by a wealth of ideas, and we expect that the information we[Read More…]
Stand Up to Climate Change, Stand Up for Our Future
400-foot tall sheets of ice falling into the ocean, a glacier taller than skyscrapers and wider than islands collapsing in minutes, spikes pushed 600 feet into the air just as quickly as they fall again: the real-life, real-time calving of a glacier was caught on camera by some act of[Read More…]
Plus ça change: New protest documents are more of the same
Nearly a year after McGill released its proposed Protocol Regarding Demonstrations, Protests, and Occupations, the administration has drafted its latest incarnation. The new version comes in the form of two concurrent documents: a Statement of Values regarding freedom of expression, and a set of Operating Procedures intended to act as[Read More…]
Re: “Cuts and an inconsequential conversation” (Jan 29)
Abraham Moussako’s latest article “Cuts and an inconsequential conversation” is an example of the tired and monotonous intellectual sludge which has come to define his contributions to the McGill Tribune. In his article, Moussako claims he hoped this year would be free of past turmoil. He then goes on to[Read More…]
Security must be prioritized in Dawson expulsion
Dawson College student Ahmed Al-Khabaz caught nationwide attention last month after his expulsion for hacking into the school’s security system. Al-Khabaz claimed that he did so to check on a security flaw that he had reported weeks earlier, that he had no malicious intent, and had made no attempt to[Read More…]
When good enough is not good enough
More than a decade after the first suspicions arose and categorical denials began, Lance Armstrong has finally come clean. Armstrong’s televised confession sheds light on more than just a sportsman with a tainted legacy. He claims that the win-at-all-costs attitude that helped him overcome cancer was what turned him into[Read More…]
A defence of the arts
Last week, the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) held “Work your BA Week” to orient soon-to-be graduates on their prospects after graduation. In contrast with other majors such as education, engineering or nursing which are occupation-based, the notion of being an “arts” student is often overcast with ambiguity, since there is[Read More…]
Accountability must come first in Access to Information debate
A fundamental pillar for the success of a publicly funded institution is the public’s right to know and understand where its money goes, and what is being done with it. McGill’s recent motion to the Commission d’accès à l’information seeking the authority to ignore Access To Information (ATI) requests threatens[Read More…]
Letter to the Editor
Much has been written about the faculty of arts proposal to enhance the connection between research and undergraduate teaching by increasing the proportion of courses taught by professors who devote their careers to advancing their disciplines, as well as increasing the availability of teaching-assistant support to professors and students. These[Read More…]